Mother Nature doesn’t disappoint in Alaska

Summer is over, at least according to most Alaskans I speak with recently. Done. Gone. It’s heading off to some other part of the world that certainly does not deserve it and definitely won’t appreciate it as much as we do. And it seems that there has been a bit of a chill in the air, although truth be told, I have encountered that chill in every month of the year in this great land.

Of course, we are still on the right side of the equinox, and from where I sit the lawn is still green and the trees, although trending yellow, are firmly in control of their leaves. The termination dust has barely painted the mountains and blooming fireweed can still be seen. But the sweet taste of midnight sun and 90 degree weather is fading and as our uncontrolled slide toward frozen ground begins there is an innate inclination to focus on our inevitable destination. I suppose to the uninitiated it might seem pessimistic to declare summer over but I don’t think that it is pessimism that is driving the winter-centric talk across the state.

A number of years ago one of my intellectual mentors introduced me to the notion of “under-promise, over-deliver.” It is basically the idea that you should always work to lower expectations at the outset because then if you deliver even a modicum more than what was promised, the receiver will be very, very happy. Inversely, if you promise something and only deliver on 90 percent of it, the receiver will be disappointed — even if they ultimately were to receive more than their under-promised peers. I think this approach works well with human psychology, and I suspect it is what is driving our collective decision to throw our mental switch to “Winter.”

We have been telling ourselves daily for weeks that summer is over, and we may be right. Should the sun reemerge, I imagine that the good people of the 49th state would once again storm outside to enjoy a glorious and pleasant end of summer/fall. And should it not, and the leaves on the trees begin in earnest to reflect yellow light and the soggy ground gives up and refuses to absorb any more of what the sky throws at it we shall nod our heads — our brain has promised us winter beginning in September and that is what we shall receive. So be it.

This attitude shifts a heartbreaking experience into something slightly less devastating and is quite a clever coping mechanism in dealing with this time of year. I have even heard people applying it before the start of summer — one individual mentioned to me in May that a local elder predicted a “year without summer,” essentially removing the promise of sun and warmth entirely, an over-achieving feat of under-promising that is certain to deliver a year without disappointment. Sure, that person might have been wrong this year, but I suspect that one day Alaska will deliver on this, and summer will slip by without a sunny day or a green leaf. At least we will all be prepared for it mentally, and we can collectively enjoy the warmth provided by the satisfaction of being right.

As we bound through September I know that winter is of course, coming. Nature does not paint lightly in this land and soon there will be no ignoring the frost on the windshield or the frozen hair when you slip outside too soon after a shower. I do hope we are wrong in winter being upon us now however. I would love to see the clouds part and some warming solar radiation sneak through, even for a day or two. But for the sake of my sanity I will continue to believe that we have already passed the end. I will begin waxing my skis and talking excitedly about snow and frozen lakes and not having to mow the lawn.

And, something tells me I won’t be disappointed.

Pete LaFrance grew up in Palmer and has moved back to the area after a number of years living abroad.